Kindred
by gryffindormischief
Summary: Harry and Ginny's first foray into the world of babysitting


A/N: Some fun, but also a little serious (the prompt was war/post war so its not too surprising I guess). Hope you enjoy!

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A soft breeze blew over the pond, ruffling the short wavy hairs that escaped from Ginny's fiery ponytail. Slowly, she shifted her weight to one hand and ran her fingers through Harry's dark locks, closing her eyes, completely relaxed and at peace, if only for a moment. After a leisurely morning spent flying in the open air surrounding the ramshackle home, the young couple had collapsed in one of the empty fields, surrounded by yellow and white blossoms swaying in the light wind.

"Teddy's coming over in a bit," Harry stated, eyes squinting as the late morning sun emerged from behind the voluminous clouds that filled the sky over Devon.

Ginny hummed, cracking one eye open, "Do _you_ know anything about babies?"

Harry stiffened, lifting his head from its place in Ginny's lap, " _No_. I thought you or your mum would help?"

"Well mum went to visit with Bill and Fleur, and I'm the _baby_." Ginny scoffed.

Panic rising, Harry stood and paced back and forth while his girlfriend looked on with a smirk as he started mumbling to himself. Suddenly he looked up, faint hope in his expression, "That means Ron was around when you – "

"Uh, he was only a year old, Harry, that hardly counts as 'experience with babies,'" Ginny interrupted, letting her hands slide out to the sides and flopping back into the grass, "Plus, if you knew half of what we did to each other growing up…"

She trailed off and plucked a blade of grass and began shredding it, brow furrowed in thought, "Hermione?"

Harry shook his head, "Only child…although I guess if she did _research_ …"

"Nah, she and Ron are out for the whole day anyway, doing God _knows_ what," Ginny answered, sitting up and propping her forearms across her raised knees.

"I have _never_ wanted to be omnipotent less than right now," Harry said with a squeamish look on his face.

The red head scowled, " _Please_ , that's my _brother_ and I just had breakfast."

"Well _I_ don't much like thinking about it either! Hermione's practically my sister," Harry said with a shiver.

Ginny narrowed her eyes at Harry, "I think the general point is that neither one of us wants to think about what the two of them may or may not be doing right now."

"I'm going to go with 'may not,' if only for my own sanity."

"Seconded," Ginny replied, looking slightly green.

"We've still not solved the Teddy problem."

Despite the fact that they were inexperienced in childcare, Harry and Ginny figured confidence and teamwork would get them through the undertaking alive. Each reassured the other periodically reciting phrases like, 'he's just a baby' and 'its only a few hours' until they accepted the tiny wizard from Andromeda. Soon, she had disappeared in a blaze of green flames for an afternoon of errands and shopping in London. But first, Andromeda had passed a slightly clammy Harry the green bundle, that was apparently his godson, with instructions to 'support his head' and 'keep small things away from his hands' and a final ominous warning to Ginny that he loves to grab hair and pull…a lot.

Currently, the little Lupin was tucked into Harry's tentative but secure embrace, gazing up into his eyes curiously. _Maybe this won't be so bad…_ Meanwhile, Ginny had taken it upon herself to unpack the entire diaper bag that Andromeda had left with them, which wouldn't mean much if it hadn't had an undetectable extension charm on it, "I think there's a – ," the young weasley's voice was muffled when her entire head disappeared into the yellow and blue plaid bag.

Harry rolled his eyes affectionately and offered a finger to Teddy, who happily slipped half of it into his mouth, "Uh, Gin, I can't hear you anymore."

After some muttering and possibly swearing, Ginny's head reappeared, "Bloody hell, I think she packed an entire nursery in here."

Harry quirked an eyebrow in disbelief and Ginny stared back undeterred, "There are two prams and an entire chest of drawers."

Chuckling, Harry looked down at Teddy again, with his mousy brown hair and grey eyes, "You think that's funny too, eh little man?"

Ginny looked up from the pile of onesies in her lap abruptly, "Harry, I don't think he can smile yet…"

"I am looking at his face right now and he is smiling," Harry retorted playfully.

Blowing an escaped tendril out of her face, Ginny stood and walked over to the couch where Harry sat, "I _mean_ he wasn't smiling at _me_ …I think maybe he –," she broke off and sniffed Teddy's bum, "Just as I suspected." Ginny quickly withdrew her head, partially from fear of tiny grabbing hands and the look of interest in his eye when he zeroed in on her dangling locks, but mainly because of the overwhelmingly pungent odor emanating from his nappy.

Harry grimaced, "I was really hoping he would keep everything _inside_ until Andromeda picked him up."

"You've already cheated death this year, something bad was bound to happen," Ginny snickered but continued, "Don't worry, we'll do it together. It can't be too hard, right?"

As is so often true, those words proved to be far from accurate. Not even an hour later, Molly Weasley entered her den to find the dynamic duo, and what appeared to be two packs of baby nappies and wipes, spread across the large braided rug that filled the middle of the room. Ginny and Harry were sprawled next to each other, dead to the world, while Teddy sleepily blinked before he gurgled happily in his crib, sucking on his thumb contentedly and eyeing the newcomer with a mischievous glint reminiscent of his mother. With a sigh, she called quietly to wake up the young couple, "Harry, Ginny dear, you'd better wake up before Andromeda arrives."

Harry's eyes wrenched open as the young wizard leapt up, with Ginny following in his wake, both bleary eyed but alert, hair peppered with baby powder, Harry grasping a stuffed snitch instead of his wand, while an unused nappy remained affixed to the side of Ginny's freckled leg. Both pairs of eyes darted to the crib, where the metamorphmagus lay on his back, blowing bubbles with his spittle happily.

Ginny looked at her mother, relieved, and threw herself into Molly's embrace, mumbling into her shoulder something like 'how can one small baby make so much… _stuff._ ' While the matriarch stroked Ginny's hair lovingly, cooing words of calm, Harry moved toward his godson and pulled him to his chest, "Guess we made it through, Ted."

Teddy blinked, then scrunched his face and opened his eyes once more, except now they were rich brown, and the downy hairs spread sparsely across his pale head were electric pink.

Harry stared at his godson in wonder, until the haze was broken by a gasp near the fireplace.

Andromeda stood with her tapestry bag, much fuller than it had been hours before, eyes watery and a slight tremble in her chin, "Oh, my…he hasn't…he's just like my… _Nymphadora_."

Harry gaped, unsure what to do when faced with the unshed tears of a woman who had mourned her lost family with a straight back and a refusal to crumble because her 'dear little Edward' needed her to be strong. Molly had looked up when Mrs. Tonks had entered the room and released Ginny.

Visually, the two women contrasted each other in almost every way, one statuesque, the other diminutive, one slim and angular, projecting an air of nobility and breeding, while the other filled out her worn robes and practically burst with a feeling of comfort and affection. Nevertheless, both locked gazes, and for a moment, without speaking, shared all the pain and loss and misery of the last months between them, knowing that their strongest connection arose from the worst part of their lives. Molly moved forward briskly and pulled Andromeda into a tight embrace, neither breaking the silence.

Turning his gaze toward Ginny for the first time, Harry noted her brown eyes were glassy and red as she offered him a slight smile, before ducking her head swiping under her eyes bruskly. Teddy wriggled in Harry's arms, unaware and eager for more attention, as he slowly allowed his hair to shift back to its natural shade. The infant reached upwards, grasping for Harry's glasses. Harry uttered a quiet, "No good, little man," and offered his pinky finger in the stead of his spectacles, which seemed to appease Teddy.

Suddenly, both women broke apart, clearing throats and smoothing robes, before Andromeda turned toward her grandson and his godfather and spoke, "Thank you, Harry. I am glad he has you."

Unsure what to say, Harry nodded jerkily and placed a small kiss on Teddy's forehead, whispering into his tiny ear, "We have each other mate."


End file.
